With major players like Microsoft, Sony, and Google invested in game-streaming technologies, it could be the next big evolution for gaming. Now, a Nintendo executive has commented on the possibility of the Mario company getting involved.

Nintendo of America executive Charlie Scibetta told TechCrunch at E3 2019 that streaming is “certainly interesting technology.” He added that Nintendo is monitoring the technology, going on to say that for now at least Nintendo is focusing on physical game sales and sales through the Nintendo eShop.

“Streaming is certainly interesting technology,” he explained. “Nintendo is keeping a close eye on it and we’re evaluating it. We don’t have anything to announce right now in terms of adopting that technology. For us, it’s still physical and it’s digital downloads through our eShop.”

Another executive, marketing boss Doug Bowser (yes, that is his real name), told The Hollywood Reporter that “it’s always interesting to see what others are doing in the space” as it relates to streaming.

“We’re always interested in how various new technologies can enable different ways to play games,” he said.

While Nintendo might not have a streaming service of its own, the company does operate a subscription service in the form of the Nintendo Switch Online membership program.

And though Nintendo doesn’t offer a game-streaming service on Switch, other companies do. Capcom offers Resident Evil 7 as a streaming game on Switch in Japan, while Ubisoft does the same with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in the country.

The public beta for Microsoft’s xCloud game-streaming service launches in October, while Google Stadia is slated for release in November. in other news, Microsoft and Sony recently announced an agreement for new cloud-gaming technologies.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-is-evaluating-streaming-technology/1100-6467855/

Cyberpunk 2077 features The Matrix actor Keanu Reeves in a major role. The character he plays, Johnny Silverhand, was in a rock band called Samurai. But will Reeves sing in the game? He wants to, but the game’s developer, CD Projekt Red, apparently has other ideas.

“No, they don’t want me to sing,” Reeves told IGN.

CD Projekt Red recruited an unnamed rock band to do the music, Reeves said, “so they’re going to be doing that.” Still, Reeves says he may be able to have some influence on the music.

“We have a bit of time, so maybe we’ll see what happens,” he said. “Maybe the lead singer of the band will let me have some kind of influence in there. We’ll see.”

It’s a bit of a bummer that Reeves apparently won’t sing in Cyberpunk 2077. He’s got the chops to pull it off, after all, so maybe something will happen down the line.

Silverhand appears as a hologram in your character’s head. He’s a key character who is second only to the player character, V, in terms of spoken dialogue. “He’s the No. 2 character in terms of lines of spoken text across the entire game,” CD Projekt Red founder Marcin Iwinski said.

“You will see a lot of Keanu and hear even more of Keanu,” Iwinski said.

Cyberpunk 2077 now has a release date: April 16, 2020, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Look out for more Cyberpunk news as E3 goes on, including how the team got Keanu Reeves involved in the first place, and our preview of the new gameplay CD Projekt Red demoed at the show, as well as a look at its story.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sorry-keanu-reeves-doesnt-sing-in-cyberpunk-2077/1100-6467853/

Just before the release of Rockstar’s open-world action game Red Dead Redemption 2, reports emerged about the working conditions at the studios that developed the game. This naturally led to a discussion about unions, which are largely non-existent in the video game world. Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two, has now weighed in on the subject of unions. He told GI.biz that it’s “hard to imagine” why his developers would want to unionize, but if they do, management would work on a collective bargaining agreement with them.

Before making his point about unions in the games industry specifically, Zelnick offered a higher-level view of why he believes unions exist in the first place.

“Unions tend to develop when labor relations are not typically non-existent,” Zelnick said. “And typically unions have been most beneficial when there were more workers than there were jobs. And where the jobs were low-paying jobs. We have fewer workers than we have jobs, and they’re high-paying jobs.”

“Right now, Take-Two has 500 open positions. There are 220,000 or so people employed in the US video game business. They make about $100,000 on average, maybe more. It’s hard to imagine what would motivate that crew to unionize,” Zelnick added. “But we’re a compliant company and will serve the law. If our colleagues want to engage in collective bargaining, then we will.”

Unions are common in other popular media industries such as TV and film, but the video game business is largely unionized. Unionization efforts in the video game industry appear to be ramping up of late, with groups like Game Workers Unite appearing at recent industry events like E3 and the Game Developers Conference to spread the message.

The practice of “crunch,” or working overly long hours to finish a development milestone in gaming, is often connected to unionization efforts and measures to improve the work-life balance of developers. Recently, GameSpot spoke with the developers of Ubisoft’s The Division 2, and they told us what is being done to minimize crunch and promote a healthy work-life balance.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/what-take-twos-ceo-thinks-about-unions/1100-6467851/

With Microsoft’s acquisition of quirky indie studio Double Fine Productions, announced during the company’s E3 2019 presentation, Microsoft now has 15 studios under its Xbox Game Studios umbrella. While president Tim Schafer has confirmed the purchase will have no effect on how the California-based studio conducts its business, the company did take to Twitter to satirize the news.

Schafer, in a 30-second video posted to the official Double Fine Twitter account, basically said Microsoft rolled up with “a bunch of money” and made the team an offer they couldn’t refuse. The video features all the slow-mo head movement and melodrama that would make any soap opera jealous.

The studio’s next game, Rad, a post-apocalyptic action game published by Bandai Namco, is set to release on August 20 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Psychonauts 2–set to arrive sometime in 2020 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One–will mark the studio’s first game published under the Xbox Game Studios moniker.

More E3 News:

• Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 teased
• New Xbox console, Scarlett, revealed
• Xbox Scarlett details: 8K, 120 FPS, SSD
• Elden Ring is From Software and George RR Martin’s new game
• Cyberpunk 2077 release date announced
• Final Fantasy VII Remake release date announced
• Marvel’s Avengers revealed

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-truly-heartwarming-tale-of-how-microsoft-bough/1100-6467847/

Fortnite‘s Week 6 challenges have arrived on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices, which means you now have another chance to earn Battle Stars and level up your Season 9 Battle Pass. As usual, there’s an extra incentive to complete as many of these challenges as possible; if you clear all seven from a given week, you’ll also complete one of Season 9’s Utopia challenges, which in turn will lead the way to a secret item hidden somewhere in the game–including another Fortbyte.

Each Utopia challenge you complete in Season 9 will reward you with a special loading screen that contains a secret clue pointing you to a free item. Odd-numbered Utopia challenges will lead to a free Battle Star, which will level your Battle Pass up by one full tier; even-numbered challenges, however, will direct you to the aforementioned Fortbytes–a new type of collectible introduced in Season 9.

Fortbytes resemble computer chips, and each one you collect unlocks a portion of a larger picture. There are 100 Fortbytes in total, and while most of them can be acquired by achieving certain milestones, a handful are tied to Utopia challenges. That’s the case with Fortbyte #2. The clue for this particular chip can be found in the loading screen you earn for completing the Week 6 Utopia challenge–or, more specifically, its description, which reads, “Only the best snipers can take out a holo-clock tower lamp from the rooftops of Neo Tilted.”

Just as the description says, you’ll need to go to Neo Tilted to find this Fortbyte. The item will appear on top of the aforementioned clock tower, so simply make your way to the area to collect it. We’ve marked the Fortbyte’s exact location on the map below; you can also watch where we go to collect it in the video at the top of this guide.

Unlike secret Battle Stars, which will only appear once you’ve completed their corresponding Utopia challenge, this Fortbyte is available to everyone who has purchased a Season 9 Battle Pass, regardless of whether or not you’ve finished enough challenges to unlock the above loading screen. That means you can head to the right area and collect it without much hassle. If you do need help completing this season’s challenges, however, you can find tips and guides in our complete Fortnite Season 9 challenges roundup.

Week 6’s challenges arrived shortly after Fortnite’s 9.21 update, which added another new weapon to the game: the Proximity Grenade Launcher, a gun that lobs bouncing explosives at opponents. The Proximity Grenade Launcher comes in Epic and Legendary varieties and can be found in chests, supply drops, vending machines, or from Loot Carriers. The update also kicked off a new limited-time mode called Horde Rush, which features its own set of challenges to complete. You can find the full patch notes for the update on Epic’s website.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-week-6-secret-fortbyte-2-location-guide-s/1100-6467837/